The Last Dekrepitzer - by Howard Langer (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

WINNER NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD

The fiddler busking in the Columbus Circle subway station in 1965 is the Dekrepitzer Rebbe, the sole survivor of the obscure Dekrepitzer Hasidic sect known before the war for its rebbes' fiddling. The Last Dekrepitzer follows the life and spiritual quest of Shmuel Meir Lichtbencher a/k/a Sam Lightup, from his isolated shtetl in the mountains of southern Poland, where he is brought up to be the future rebbe, to the wharves in Naples, where he jams with Black soldiers waiting to ship home at the end of the war. Dressing him in the uniform and dog tags of an AWOL soldier, they smuggle him home to rural Mississippi. He lives for years among the Blacks, speaks Black English, preaches and plays the blues with the Brown Sugar Ramblers trio. His marriage to a Black woman, Lula Curtin, legal by Jewish law though forbidden under Mississippi law, results in a cross burning that forces them to flee to Manhattan. He plays on the streets of Harlem and Midtown with the Reverend Gary Davis, the great blind guitarist whose mission is saving souls for the next world. Shmuel Meir's devout wife, though she knows herself to be the Dekrepitzer Rebbitzen, is spurned by the Jewish community. Through it all, Shmuel Meir fiddles his prayers in defiance of God. But God gives the Dekrepitzer Rebbe no peace.

Review Quotes

"Langer's musical protagonist travels between worlds in a tremendously authentic way-the cross-cultural story is as at home in Europe as it is in the Mississippi Delta. ...A unique, musical novel that highlights the cultural riches people can offer one another in difficult circumstances.....Verdict: Get it."

Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2024

"Langer is a talented builder of worlds who shines the most when creating setting and mood. Through his prose, one gets a real sense of what it might have been like to live in a shtetl, the Jim Crow South, and twentieth century Harlem. Langer's characters are also vivid. Because Sam is so open, accepting, and virtuous, the reader is able to see the world in the same way. Sam is not without his struggles, but his read of the world is pure.

"The Last Dekrepitzer is a novel that will surprise readers with its depth and introduce them to one of the more unique characters to appear on the contemporary Jewish literary scene."

Marc Katz, Jewish Book Council Review, December 2, 2024

"there is much to be charmed by in this novel and even more to learn from it"

Michael Krasny, Moment, December 2024

"...Langer's prose soars...the book excels on many levels..."

Robert Nagler Miller, Hadassah Magazine, May, 2025

"The Last Dekrepitzer is a remarkable novel about faith lost and regained in the aftermath of the Holocaust. In telling this story of the last surviving rebbe of a Hasidic dynasty passing as a Black street-fiddler, Howard Langer has discovered a new idiom of American Jewish writing. A brilliant re-imagining of the legend of the hidden righteous soul told as though the melodies of Hasidic niggunim were blues." -David Stern, Harry Starr Professor of Classical and Modern Hebrew and Jewish Literature, Harvard University

"How wonderful to see the personality and music of Rev. Gary Davis enter into the world of Shmuel Meir. They wander and play music together on the streets of New York, sharing their thoughts and visions of life. Rev. Davis's spirit lives on and, as he used to say, 'I don't have any children but I have many sons.'" -Stefan Grossman, guitarist and author of Reverend Gary Davis: The Holy Blues and Early Masters of American Blues Guitar: Rev. Gary Davis

" This is a terrific book. Beautifully written and cleverly plotted. ..... Unlike many authors writing about Jewish matters, Langer brings a wealth of authentic learning to the book, which adds much to the feeling that this 'unbelievable' story of a rebbe without Hasidim is perfectly believable! The book is deeply moving. Themes of astounding loss and a hard-won kind of redemption merge with great power." -Barry W. Holtz, Baumritter Professor of Jewish Education, Jewish Theological Seminary, editor of Back to the Sources: Reading the Classic Jewish Texts

" If you liked James McBride's novels..., you will love The Last Dekrepitzer. Shmuel Meir Lichtbencher is an inspired Hasidic rebbe and fiddler, the only survivor of a fictional Polish shtetl. In rural Mississippi, he lives among African Americans and learns their English and music, but his fiddling of niggunim, wordless melodies with which he confronts God, is the universal language that saves him as he traverses post-World War II America. Langer's prose is as inspired as Shmuel Meir's fiddling." -Kathryn Hellerstein, University of Pennsylvania, co-editor of The Norton Anthology of Jewish American Literature

" Langer brings to life the two very different worlds he imagines in compelling detail. It is a powerful and deeply moving story, and it will stay with me for a long time."

Martha Himmelfarb, William H. Danforth Professor of Religion Emerita, Princeton University